


All I Have to Do is Dream

by Aurone



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dreams, M/M, Miscommunication, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, YOI Soulmates Week 2020, soulmate dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:02:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26022358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurone/pseuds/Aurone
Summary: Soon after you turn 18 you have a dream about your soulmate. There are no other types of dreams in this universe.  The only dreams you have are about your soulmate.  If you are older than your soulmate, then society mandates that you have to wait until they are 18 to tell them you are soulmates.  Mickey and Sara are four years older than their soulmates. Can Mickey and Sara wait to tell their soulmates about their dreams?  And what will happen when they do?Written for YOI Soulmate Week 2020 Day 5: Communication
Relationships: Michele Crispino & Emil Nekola, Michele Crispino/Emil Nekola, Sara Crispino & Emil Nekola, background sara/mila
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26
Collections: Yuri!!! On Ice Soulmates Week 2020





	1. Walking After Midnight

Michele was walking along the familiar streets of Naples. The buzz of summer was in the air. It was early evening and the shadows of the day were beginning to engulf the streets. He looked over at the man beside him. He looked at the man’s face, trying to find some familiarity in it. He found himself enamored by his blue eyes. 

Michele thought  _ Who is he? _

Michele’s eyes continued to rove over the man beside him, taking in his relaxed demeanor and smile. Michele found himself smiling as the breeze ruffled the man’s light-colored hair. 

Michele thought  _ He is beautiful. But why am I with him?  _

Michele pulled on the hand that was clasped in his own, causing the man to pause. He looked over at Michele, their eyes catching. 

The man asked, “What? Why did you stop? We are going to be late for dinner.”

Michele, confused, asked, “Who are you?”

The man raised his free hand and caressed Michele’s face. “You will find out soon enough.”

Michele groaned as he awakened from the dream. 

_ My soulmate. That was my soulmate. I’ve had my first dream. I was hoping that I didn’t have one. Who needs a soulmate anyway? Besides, it's a guy. What would mom and dad have thought about this?  _

He jumped as he heard a knock on his door. He opened his door to find Sara standing there.

He asked, “What happened, are you alright?”

Sara, excited, replied, “I had my first soulmate dream, Mickey!” 

Michele sighed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Sara nodded. 

Michele said, “Let’s go sit in the living room. I’ll get us some tea.”

Michele went to the kitchen and made them both a cup of tea while Sara sat in the living room collecting her thoughts.

_ Is he going to care that my soulmate is a girl? Our family has always been quite traditional. I wonder if he has had his dream yet.  _

She looked up as Michele came into the room. He sat down on the couch with her and handed her a cup of tea. She took the offered cup and took a sip of the hot liquid. 

Michele asked, “Did you recognize your soulmate?” 

Sara shook her head. “No. I’ve never seen her before.”

“Her?”

“Yes. Her. My soulmate is a girl. Is that going to be a problem, Mickey?”

Michele swallowed hard. “No. It’s fine. You can’t help who your soulmate is, no matter what our parents used to say.”

“Have you had your dreams yet?”

“Yes.”

“Why aren’t you more excited about it?”

“Excited about a stranger I’ve never met being my supposed soulmate? What is there to be excited about, Sara? What if we don’t even like each other?”

“I guess that means you don’t know who it is?” 

Michele said, “No. I’ve never seen him before.”

“Him?”

Michele blushed. “Yeah, my soulmate is a guy.”

Sara said, “Did you have your dream tonight too?”

Michele nodded. 

“I can’t believe we had our dreams on the same night.”

“Me neither. What did she look like? Your soulmate?”

“She’s beautiful. She had red hair and blue eyes. I wonder how I will find her? In the dream, we were walking in a city that I have never seen before. I wonder if that means she is from somewhere else.”

“Could be. Don’t worry. You’ll find her, Sara.”

_ And then you’ll leave me alone. What if this soulmate of mine doesn’t want me?  _

Sara nodded. “What about yours?”

“He had blue eyes.” 

“Is that all you’re going to tell me?”

Michele shrugged. 

Sara sighed. “Okay, Mickey. Be like that. I think you’ll change your mind about soulmates when you meet him.”

Michele gave his sister a skeptical look. “We should get back to bed. We have practice tomorrow.”

Sara nodded. They finished their tea and Sara took their cups back to the kitchen. They returned to their rooms and fell into a dreamless sleep.

****

Two Years Later. . .

Sara said, “I am always excited at the beginning of the new season.”

Michele asked, “Why?”

“Because it means new skaters and people that we haven’t met before. We could find our soulmates.”

Michele sighed. “As if it could be that easy.”

“We can hope, right? It doesn’t hurt anything for us to meet the new skaters and coaches. You never know. We might get lucky.” 

Michele thought  _ I don’t want to get lucky. I want no part of this. I don’t want to meet anyone. I don’t need anyone but Sara. Other people just leave.  _

Michele just rolled his eyes. He parted ways with his sister and went to the men’s locker room to change. He looked around the room, nodding to the skaters that he knew. A few minutes later a skater that he didn’t know walked into the locker room. Michele looked up at the newcomer. 

Michele thought  _ damn, he’s tall. Looks young. He must have transferred from the Junior Circuit. Seems like I’ve seen him before, but where? I hardly ever watch the Junior Circuit.  _

The realization of where he had seen the boy hit him like a train. 

_ Holy Shit. He’s my soulmate. Oh, God. What do I do? I can’t. . . talk to him. Right? _

Michele took a ragged breath. Christophe, who was next to him, heard him.

Christophe asked, “You okay, Michele?”

Michele looked up at Christophe. He had a deer in the headlights look in his eyes. 

Michele swallowed hard. “Fine.”

Christophe shrugged. “Okay.”

Christophe did notice how Michele’s eyes kept straying to the new male skater in the dressing room. 

_ Hmmm. I wonder. _

Michele quickly finished getting dressed and hurried out of the locker room to find his sister. When he found her he said, “You’ll never guess what. . .”

As she said, “Mickey, I found. . .”

Michele said, “Sorry. Go ahead.”

Sara took a deep breath. “I found my soulmate.”

Michele eyes widening in surprise. “You too?”

“She is a junior skater that moved up to the seniors this year.”

“Mine too. I just saw him in the dressing room.”

Sara sighed. “That means they are younger than us. I bet neither one of them is 18 yet.”

“Well, at least we have some time before we have to tell them.”

“Michele. Are you still on that not wanting a soulmate thing? Even after you have seen him? I can’t wait to tell mine that we are soulmates.”

“Well, we have to wait. They are younger than us and tradition dictates that we have to wait until they turn 18 to tell them.”

“But Mickey, we’ve already waited two years.”

“Well, we are going to have to wait longer. We can’t tell them until they turn 18.”

_ At least I will have a few more years before I have to deal with this.  _

Sara asked, “Could we at least become friends with them?” 

“Friends, huh?”

“Just think how nice it will be when we can tell them we are soulmates if we are already friends. It will make the transition a lot easier, right? It will be less awkward than trying to convince a stranger that you are soulmates. Besides, you might actually come to like yours.”

“Alright, Sara. We can try being friends with our soulmates.”

“Let’s invite them both to dinner after the competition.”

Michele sighed. “Sure. I hope you are right about all this. But what if after he gets to know me he doesn’t want me as a soulmate or what if I don’t like him?”

“There is no way that is going to happen, Mickey. Soulmates are paired for a reason. There are never any mismatches.”

“Let’s go down to the rink. The competition will be starting soon. We don’t want to be late. We can talk about this more later.”

Sara nodded and followed her brother down to the ice. 

***

Two Year Later. . . 

“Sara, come on. Hurry up. Emil should be here. I can finally get this over with.” Michele said.

_ And deal with the rejection.  _

Sara replied, “Okay, Mickey. I’m coming. You could have waited until dinner, you know.” 

“I didn't want dinner to be awkward. Better to get this done when we can walk away from each other.” 

“You like him, Mickey. You can admit it. No one is walking away. I’ve seen the way you look at each other.” 

Michele blushed. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Sara laughed. “I never thought I would see you excited about your soulmate.”

“I’m not excited. I just don’t want this hanging over my head anymore. Plus, you already have yours.”

_ You’re going to leave me soon. Then I’ll be all alone. _

Sara, noticing the look on Mickey’s face, said, “Oh, Mickey.” 

Sara stopped and hugged her brother. “You could have called him on his birthday, you know.”

Michele shook his head. “I think this is something better done in person.” 

“I think you are right, Mickey. I’m glad you waited to talk to him in person like I did with Mila. But I am actually really surprised that he hasn’t called you. As much as he loves the idea of soulmates, I didn’t expect him to be patient about contacting you.”

“I know. I am kind of surprised too. What if he doesn’t mention it? I mean, it’s been a few months, he should have had a dream by now, right?”

Sara sighed and shook her head. “Probably? I mean we both have our dreams within the first couple of months after our birthday. And it’s been what, three or four months since his birthday?”

Michele nodded. 

Sara, teasing, said, “All right, loverboy. He should be here somewhere. Let’s see if we can spot him. His practice time was this afternoon, right?”

Michele said, “That’s what he told me.”

They both looked around the rink for the familiar brown-haired, blue-eyed boy that had been the subject of Michele’s soulmate dreams for the past four years. 

Sara pointed and said, “There he is. He is about to come off the ice. Do you want to catch him before he changes or after.”

“After would be better, right? He’d be more comfortable that way and we could leave to talk if he wanted.”

Sara nodded. She followed Michele to the men’s locker room. They stood outside waiting for Emil to emerge. Emil walked out of the locker room, clearly surprised to see the Crispino twins waiting for him. 

Emil said, “Hey guys. What’s up? I didn’t think we had plans until dinner.”

Michele said, “We don’t, but I thought this was best done before dinner.”

Emil, confused, said, “Not that I ever mind seeing you both, but what couldn’t wait until dinner?”

Michele, surprised, asked, “What do you mean. . . haven’t you. . . do you not want. . . why?”

_ Oh My God. He really doesn’t want me. Why does it hurt so much? I didn’t want a soulmate, right? How can you not want your soulmate? Does that even happen? Sara already has hers. And now I’ve got no one. Who would want me anyways? I was right all along. _

Emil, concerned, asked, “What’s the matter, Michele? I don’t. . .”

Michele said, “Nothing. Never mind. I don’t think I can make it to dinner.”

He turned and walked away from Emil. Emil, realizing something had gone really wrong, started after Michele, but Sara stood in his way.

Sara said, “I can’t believe you, Emil. I really thought you were better than that. You could have at least talked to him about it. I don’t think I can make it to dinner, either.”

She turned and followed her brother out of the arena. 

Emil watched them go and wondered  _ what in the Hell did I do this time? They seem really upset and I have no idea what this is about. I’m missing something important. I don’t want to lose my friends. I can’t even imagine life without them. They’re all I have. I need to figure this out, now. _


	2. What Dreams Didn't Come

Sara followed her brother back to the hotel. When she got back to the hotel, he was already in their room. He was sitting on the bed, tears streaming down his face. Sara rushed to his side. 

Michele idly thought  _ I’m crying. Why am I crying? This is what I wanted, right? Was I. . . was I actually in love with him? Fuck.  _

She hugged her brother. 

She said, “I am so sorry, Michele. I really thought. . .”

Michele broke.“What’s wrong with me?” 

“There is nothing wrong with you, Mickey.”

Michele put his head on his sister’s shoulder. She could feel the tears soaking into her shirt. 

He said, “Then why doesn’t he want me?”

Trying to comfort Michele, Sara rubbed circles on his back. “I don’t know, Mickey. I don’t know.”

“He’s supposed to be my soulmate.”

“I know. I know.”

Michele lifted his head up and looked at his sister. 

With pleading eyes, he asked, “What am I. . . I just can’t. . .Sara. . . how am I supposed to live like this? I didn’t think I wanted him, but I do, Sara. I really do.”

“We’ll figure it out, Mickey. You’re going to be okay.”

“How? How am I going to be okay without my soulmate? I don’t want to live without him, Sara. I think I’m in love with him.”

Sara gasped. “Oh, Mickey. I really thought that he was in love with you, too.”

Michele hiccuped, “I guess not. Do soulmates ever reject each other?”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that. There has got to be a reason for this, Mickey. I just can’t believe that Emil would hurt you like this on purpose. He’s just too nice a guy for that.”

Michele, defeated, said, “Yeah, the reason is that he doesn’t want me. I mean, who would? He deserves so much better than me. I am terrible at so many things and he is so. . .”

Sara grabbed her brother’s shoulders, shaking him a little. “Now listen here, Mickey. There is nothing wrong with you. You deserve to be happy. You deserve your soulmate.”

Michele just looked away from his sister. He wiped at the tears that were still streaming down his face. 

Sara suggested, “Why don’t you rest for a bit while I go out and get us something to eat? I’ll bring it back to the room.”

Michele nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“You should be spending time with your soulmate instead of babysitting me.”

“It’s alright, Mickey. You need me. Mila will understand.”

Michele lay down on the bed, his face turned towards the wall. His quiet sniffling was loud in the silent room. Sara sighed as she put her shoes on. 

_ I’ve got to get this figured out. Michele can’t compete like this and he still has a chance to make it to the Grand Prix Final. I want him to be happy so I can be happy. I was looking forward to all of us being together during this trip. What in the Hell is Emil thinking? Well, I am going to fucking find out.  _

Standing in the hallway, she pulled out her phone. She dialed Emil’s number.

Emil answered, “Hello?”

Sara replied, “Emil? It’s Sara. We need to talk.”

“Y. . .yeah. We do. Where did you want to meet?”

“Are you in your room?”

“I am.”

“Give me your room number and I will come there.”

“Okay. It’s 335.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“See you soon.”

Sara hung up the phone and started down the hallway. They were only a few rooms away from Emil. Normally, this would be a good thing, but now she wasn’t so sure. When she reached Emil’s room, she knocked on the door. It almost instantly opened. Emil stood there in the doorway looking confused and unsure. 

He opened the door wider and gestured for Sara to enter the room as he said, “Come in.”

Normally she would greet Emil with a hug. But tonight she carefully walked past him to make sure they didn’t touch. Emil noticed and frowned. Emil closed the door to the hotel room as Sara sat down in a chair. Emil sat down on the bed across from her. Sara took a moment and really looked at Emil. He seemed sad, sadder than she had ever seen him. 

Emil started, “Where’s Michele?”

Sara replied, “In our room resting. This has really been hard on him.”

Emil thought  _ hard on him? At least he knows what the Hell is going on. I have been worrying about this since they left and I still can’t figure out what I could have done to warrant their reaction this afternoon.  _

Emil said, “Oh.”

Sara sighed. “Why? Why are you doing this, Emil? What has Michele ever done to you for you to treat him this way? It’s really hurting him. I’ve never seen him this upset before.”

Emil, frustrated, said, “I don’t know because I don’t know what it is I am supposed to have done. All I know is that my two best friends are mad at me for a reason unknown to me.”

“How could you not know?”

“Because I don’t know! Last time I talked to you two everything was fine!”

Emil ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he continued, “I was looking forward to seeing you at the competition, but everything has gone sideways somehow. I really don’t know what I did. So tell me so I can apologize. I want my friends back.”

Emil hung his head as tears began to fall from his blue eyes. He covered his face with his hands. 

Sara, startled by his reaction, thought  _ Oh God, what if he really doesn’t know? Maybe he hasn’t had a dream yet. But it’s been months. I have never heard of anyone not having their dream within the first two months of turning 18.  _

Sara asked softly, “Emil. Have you had any soulmate dreams yet?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Please, just humor me.”

“Alright. No. I haven’t.”

“It’s unusual for someone to go this long without having one, isn’t it?”

Emil sighed sadly, “It is. The specialists said that either I don’t remember my dreams or I don’t have a soulmate.”

Sara sucked in a breath. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why would I tell you that I am not even good enough to have a soulmate? You two are all I have. I didn’t want. . .”

Emil began crying in earnest. His sobs broke Sara’s heart. She stood up from the chair and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

Emil whispered, “Please, don’t. I can’t. . . ”

She removed her hand and stepped backward. 

“We would have understood. It would have been alright.”

“No. It would never be alright, Sara. I assume you know who your soulmate is.”

She nodded.

Emil continued, “I really wanted a soulmate. I was looking forward to having my dreams. Even if it was someone I didn’t know, at least they were out there. There would be someone for me. I was so excited for my birthday, but then the dreams never came. At first, it was okay, the dreams take longer to appear for some people. But then too much time had passed and I knew something was wrong. I went to a specialist and he told me that either I didn’t have dreams, meaning I didn’t have a soulmate, or I didn’t remember them. I cried so much that day. I almost called you, but I didn’t want to go through then what is happening now. I didn’t want to be a burden. ”

_ I had hoped that Michele was my soulmate. I don’t know how I am going to get along without him. And I never got to tell him how I feel. Not that it would have mattered. He has a soulmate. He doesn’t need me. And I am not entirely sure that he likes me anyway.  _

Sara said, “Oh. Emil. You should have called us. We could have helped you.”

“No one can help me, Sara. Do you know how horrible it is to know that there is no one out there for you? That all of your friends and family have a soulmate, but you don’t. That you are always going to be alone. No one wants to be friends with a soulless one. I knew eventually you both would find your soulmates and I would lose you. You would spend all your time with your soulmate, as you should, and there would be nothing left for me. I knew you both would eventually leave. I just didn’t know it would be so soon or like this.” 

“Damn it, Emil. Is that what you think of us? That we would just drop you because you don’t have a soulmate? That we would abandon you because we found ours? I thought we were better friends than that.”

Emil looked away from Sara. “I had hoped we were too.”

Sara thought  _ He never had a soulmate dream. That is why he didn’t say anything to Mickey because he didn’t know. Oh God, this is a mess. I’ve got to fix this, somehow.” _

Sara ran a hand down her face. “Well, this is a fine mess we all have made.”

Emil looked back at Sara with a confused look on his face. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you should have talked to us about what you were going through, but we should have talked to you too.”

Emil, still confused, said, “What? Why would that have mattered? What does my lack of soulmate have to do with this?”

Sara sighed. “Everything.”

“Explain.”

“You have a soulmate, Emil.”

Emil shook his head. “Don’t do this to me, Sara. Don’t give me hope. I can’t . . .”

“Mickey is your soulmate. He has been having dreams about you for the past four years. He thinks you don’t want him because you didn’t mention anything about being soulmates.”

For a moment Emil was silent, the words sinking into his brain. Sara watched as shock, hope, and then anger flitted across his face.

He said, “What? . . . Why. . . didn’t you tell me? I’ve been suffering for months thinking I didn’t have a soulmate and you knew all this time.”

Sara replied, “Well, at first it was because you weren’t 18 yet. It is really discouraged for soulmates to talk about being soulmates before both have had their first dream.”

“And after I was 18? It’s been like 4 months.”

“He wanted to do it in person. We were both surprised when you didn’t call him.”

“That’s why you were both upset this afternoon? You thought I didn’t want my soulmate? Hell Sara, what kind of person do you think I am? Why would I ignore my soulmate, especially since it is Michele? I’ve wanted it to be him ever since we became friends.”

“I am sorry. We are sorry. We should have talked to you before we jumped to conclusions. Forgive us?”

Emil sighed. “You think? And I will forgive you both, but I may need some time, you know? This is a lot.”

Sara nodded. “Did you want to talk to Mickey?”

Emil ran a hand down his face. “I guess I should. I don’t want him to hurt like I have been.”

“Do you want me to come or. . .”

“I think it’s better that I talk to him alone. Do you have somewhere you can go for a while?”

“Yeah, I can go see Mila. She’s my soulmate.”

“Okay, I’ll call or text you when we are done?”

“Okay.”

Emil got up from the bed and saw Sara to the door. After she left, he washed his face and pulled himself together. Grabbing his phone, wallet, and key card he left his room to talk to Michele. When he reached the Crispinos’ room, he knocked on the door.

He heard a muffled, “Go away.”

Emil said, “Michele, it’s Emil. We need to talk. Let me in. . . please.”

Emil heard shuffling behind the door. It slowly opened, revealing a wrecked Michele. 

_ I’ve never seen him look like that. I just want to hold him and make it alright.  _

Michele asked, “What do you want? Haven’t you done enough to me today?”

Emil said, “Give me a chance to explain. Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Alright, we’ll do this in the hallway then.”

There was silence for a moment. 

Michele broke first. “If you are not going to say anything then you can leave.”

Emil said, “I just don’t know where to start.”

“Just say whatever it is you’ve got to say and go. I can’t take much more of this.”

“I don’t have soulmate dreams.”

“What?!”

“I haven’t had any soulmate dreams. They told me either I don’t have a soulmate or I don’t remember my dreams.” 

“So the reason you didn’t say anything this afternoon is. . .”

“That I didn’t know.”

Michele sagged against the doorframe as tears poured out of his eyes. 

Emil asked, “Can I come in now?”

Michele nodded and moved out of the doorway. Emil shut the door behind him as he entered the room. They stood in front of one another, awkward in the silence. 

Finally, Emil let out a hesitant breath and began to speak. “Michele, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean. . . I would never. . . you know me better than this. Well, at least I thought you did. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Michele hiccuped, “First, I wasn’t sure I wanted a soulmate. I mean, it’s a little hard to swallow that you will fall in love with a stranger. But I have watched you for two years, knowing you were my soulmate. I’ve gotten to know you and I just. . . And the dreams they’ve been so. . . I am so sorry that you didn’t get to experience them. I’ve watched you grow into this incredible person. I guess I fell in love with you without knowing it.”

Emil reached out for Michele. “Michele, I fell in love with you a long time ago. I have always been grateful that you approached me at that competition back then. I was really upset when I didn’t have soulmate dreams, not so much because I didn’t have a soulmate, but because it wasn’t you. I had to come to terms these last few months that I would lose you to your soulmate. That I no longer would be that important to you. It was. . . I don’t know how I’ve. . . God, I wish you had called and told me, Michele. The last few months have been Hell for me.” 

Michele, stepping towards Emil, whispered, “I. . . sorry. I didn’t know.”

“This is such a mess. We could have avoided all of it if we had just communicated with one another.”

Michele nodded. Emil held his arms open, inviting Michele to step into his embrace. Michele stepped into the hug. He let his body relax against Emil’s as he wrapped his arms around him. Michele leaned his head on Emil’s shoulder. Emil could feel tears wetting his shoulder as Michele cried. 

Emil, trying to console his soulmate, whispered into Michele’s ear. “It’s okay. I’m here. And I am not going to leave you, either. We’ve found each other. It’s going to be okay.”

“I really thought you didn’t want me. I was so. . . it broke my heart. It hurt. That’s how I knew.”

_ That’s how I knew I loved you.  _

Emil rubbed soothing circles on Michele’s back. “I’m sorry. You’ve waited a long time for me. I don’t know if I could have done it if the roles were reversed. I am afraid I would have broken before the two years were up.”

Michele laughed. “You probably would have. You’ve always been so excited about finding your soulmate. Sara wanted to tell you earlier. Her soulmate is the same age as you, but I convinced her to wait. I needed the time. The time to get to know you.”

Emil smiled. “Hmm. Well, we found each other. We have our whole lives ahead of us.” 

“But what about. . . ?”

Emil interrupted. “I know we have a few things to figure out. But we can worry about that later. It’s going to be okay, Michele. We’re together now. We’ll figure everything out.” 

Emil looked at the time. “It’s getting late. We probably should go to bed soon. We have to skate tomorrow, after all.”

Michele nodded and then blushed as he asked, “Will. . . will you stay here with me? Just to sleep, I mean.”

Emil nodded. “Of course.”

Emil looked down at Michele, getting lost in his eyes for a moment. “Can I. . . Can I kiss you?”

Michele said softly, “Please.”

Emil placed a chaste kiss on Michele’s lips. A promise of many more to come. Both boys smiled and blushed. Emil let go of Michele and they both got ready for bed. Emil smiled as he crawled into Michele’s bed. 

Emil thought  _ I can’t believe that I have a soulmate! And it's Michele! I wish it had gone better, but I have a soulmate!  _

Michele got in after him. Emil put his arms around Michele. He pulled Michele backward until his back was flush with Emil’s chest. 

Michele asked, “Will you be here when I wake up?”

Emil whispered in Michele’s ear, “Of course. I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

Michele let out a contented sigh. “Goodnight, Emil.”

“Goodnight, Michele.”

They fell asleep in each other’s arms looking forward to the life together that they had before them. 


End file.
